Council Gives Tentative OK to Air Show

The San Diego City Council gave unanimous conceptual approval Monday to Air/Space America, which boosters hope will bring an extravaganza similar to the famous international air show in Paris to Brown Field in San Diego in 1988, and every two years thereafter.

A skeptical Mayor Roger Hedgecock and council members vowed, however, that the city would not in any way subsidize the proposed show, and would not let it interfere with more permanent developments planned at Brown Field and surrounding Otay Mesa.

“At this time, I have some major reservations about this proposal,” Hedgecock said. “This project should not receive any subsidies from the city, and it should not in any way negate future air cargo activity at Brown Field, which is a key to economic development at Otay Mesa. I do not want any uses to deter from the long-term goal of trying to develop Otay Mesa.”

Councilman Mike Gotch echoed Hedgecock’s concerns. “I can’t see losing out on jobs and improving the industrial base for an opportunity that comes along every two years,” he said.

The council’s action did not constitute final approval for the proposed air show; it only allowed the city to continue negotiations with promoters hoping to stage the event in San Diego. An early snag could develop over the issue of city subsidies at the city-owned airport--a report by Conrad Coleman of the city manager’s office said the sponsors “indicated that some degree of city financial support not normally provided to land use developers will be requested.”

Roger Tierney, a local businessman, is leading the sponsors for the proposed show, which the group hopes to stage at Brown Field for the first time in the spring of 1988, and every two years thereafter. Coleman described Tierney and other possible investors in the show as “committed to the concept that the United States needs to bolster its position in the international aerospace industry by hosting an aviation-space technology exposition.”

Coleman said there are “similar expositions held in other parts of the world (including the internationally renowned Paris Air Show) which have significant positive impacts for the host nation.”

Tierney told the council that Brown Field is an ideal location for a major international air show because it has enough land on which to develop an exposition site and is within a major metropolitan area that holds top appeal for foreign and domestic tourists. “We want a commitment before we work toward refining our concepts with the city,” Tierney said before the council’s vote.

“This could bring a large, continuous biannual revenue stream to the city, and enhance its international reputation,” he said.

Coleman said Tierney’s group has determined that Brown Field has “a runway system capable of handling large aircraft and space available for indoor and outdoor exhibit areas, grandstands and parking.”

Within the 75 acres Tierney’s group hopes to develop for the exposition site, however, is an area identified in a city master plan for future development of permanent aviation and commercial facilities. Those plans, Hedgecock said, are critical to economic development of the Otay Mesa area and should not be jeopardized by temporary needs of an air show. “There can be no loss of those expansion plans,” Hedgecock said.

Council members agreed, however, that the show could be a prestigious moneymaker for the city. “San Diego has contributed more to the aviation industry than 99.9% of the cities in the country,” said Councilman Bill Cleator. “Our city is an ideal location for something like this.”

Councilman Uvaldo Martinez, who has been a major proponent of the air show concept, called Tierney’s proposal “an economic activity, not a recreational one. It is a trade show, and it makes sense for San Diego from an economic perspective.”